Former US tennis player Steve Johnson has questioned whether Coco Gauff should have made a critical comment towards her coach during her Dubai Tennis Championships defeat.
World No 4 Gauff progressed to the semi-final of the WTA 1000 event last week, with the American ultimately beaten by Elina Svitolina in a three-set thriller.
The two-time Grand Slam singles champion showcased her characteristic grit and determination to save a string of match points in an extraordinary second-set tiebreak, though ultimately was beaten 6-4, 6-7(13), 6-4 by the Ukrainian.
Gauff fought hard during her semi-final defeat, but much like in other matches across her campaign in Dubai, her serve proved problematic at times.
The 21-year-old hit 12 double faults during her loss to Svitolina, and at one point vented her frustration towards Gavin MacMillan, one of her coaches.
Biomechanical expert MacMillan joined Gauff’s team ahead of the US Open last August, after she split with Matt Daly — who was also a biomechanics technician.
Gauff’s serve has remained troublesome throughout large spells of her partnership with MacMillan, who works alongside the American’s long-time coach, J.C Faurel.
And, after double faulting at 3-3 in set two, the American commented directly to MacMillan: “I’ve been doing everything you wanted for six months… I’m not better at all.”
The comment instantly drew attention and took many by surprise.
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Speaking on Nothing Major, former world No 21 Johnson admitted that he was among those surprised to see the reigning French Open champion make such a comment during the middle of a match.
He said: “It looked like she was saying: ‘I’ve done everything you’ve asked and I’m still serving like this.’
“That’s not what you want to be saying mid-match. I said that to my coaches a lot: ‘Why am I playing so bad?’ But that was more of a me issue.
“She’s much better than me. So you would expect her not to have those kinds of in-match meltdowns.”
Gauff is not in action this week and will return to court for the WTA 1000 event in Indian Wells next fortnight.
Action in California marks her first tournament on American soil this year, and will be swiftly followed by the Miami Open — another WTA 1000 event, and the second half of the ‘Sunshine Double’.
Home expectations will be high for the world No 4 in both events, with Gauff part of a strong US group in the top 10 of the WTA Rankings, alongside world No 5 Jessica Pegula, and world No 6 Amanda Anisimova.
However, the tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami have not traditionally been her happiest hunting grounds.
Gauff was a semi-finalist in Indian Wells in 2024 and a quarter-finalist back in 2023, though was beaten in the fourth round by Belinda Bencic twelve months ago.
Meanwhile, she has never made it to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open in six previous attempts, with the American falling in the fourth round in 2022, 2024, and 2025.
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